


Fight vs Flight

by Corveille



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Adorable Connor, Alternate Universe - Wings, Connor Deserves Happiness, DBH Rarepairs Week, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Prompt Day 2: Fight vs Flight, So does Rupert, Wingfic, pideons, this author doesn't know how to write wingfics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:08:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23439712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corveille/pseuds/Corveille
Summary: A few birds chirp from the branches behind him and he closes his eyes for a moment to listen to their songs. He’s in the aviary again, no matter how many times he tells himself it’d be best just to leave New Jericho until Markus has an actual need for him, he can never stop himself from coming to this place.One last time,he always says and yet here he is, breaking that promise again.
Relationships: Connor & Rupert Travis, Connor/Rupert Travis
Comments: 7
Kudos: 41





	Fight vs Flight

**Author's Note:**

> So here I am posting a day late, but I really wanted to do this prompt ^^'
> 
> I never wrote Wingfics before, and honestly I'm not sure it really adds a lot to the story but! When the heart wants wingfics, it wants wingfics.
> 
> Thank you so much Uai for beta reading this short fic ❤.

Connor taps his feet on the wall of the building as he watches the shifters from above. They walk around the streets of New Jericho in no hurry to grow their wings, not in here, not in the place they see as their nest. A place of refuge.

He brings his legs up and drops his chin on his joined knees.

It’s hard for him to see it the same way. This place is a sanctuary for all the shifters, a hunter should not have a right to walk in, no matter how Markus reassures him he’s one of them now. Connor can’t forget just as easily what he’s done.

A few birds chirp from the branches behind him and he closes his eyes for a moment to listen to their songs. He’s in the aviary again, no matter how many times he tells himself it’d be best just to leave New Jericho until Markus has an actual need for him, he can never stop himself from coming to this place. _One last time_ , he always says and yet here he is, breaking that promise again.

This place feels like home to him, maybe he’d grown too used to the one inside Cyberlife’s tower to find anything else enjoyable, but this, this was close enough. It’s so full of vivid colors and life that it brings Connor the closest he’d dare call happy.

He can sense the something on his back stir at the thought of flying, of letting his wings out in the open so his feathers can breathe but decides against it, even if he’s alone. His wings would give his identity right away if someone were to walk in.

His hands come up to rub at his shoulders and he feels the blue aura slip between his fingers, before retreating.

There’s a loud flap of wings as two pigeons take a seat next to him to watch the view but when Connor to get his hand closer to them they fly off, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

He stands back up with a sigh and decides he’s seen enough of the streets for today. A nice gust of wind blows gently through his clothes as he goes to sit on a bench near rose bushes. A laugh coming from somewhere farther to his left makes Connor freeze.

He stays still, with his hand hovering over the head rest until the laugh stops. A metallic sound follows soon after.

The voice’s coming from the cages area, one that Connor didn’t frequent. It reminded him too much of his last day with Amanda to even want to come near there. But the voice sounds familiar though he can’t quite place a face to it. The laugh comes up once more, ringing inside Connor and awakening his curiosity.

He shouldn’t, he should just leave before the stranger notices they are not alone in here.

Connor steps away from the bench but his feet don’t take him to the exit, no, they slowly walk him closer to where the cages are. He just wants to know who that voice belongs to, once he takes a small peek, he’ll take his leave.

That is what Connor tells himself, anyway.

He rounds a corner and steps behind a pillar when he hears the voice again, followed by some cooing.

“Yeah, I’m coming. I know you are hungry.” And as the stranger turns around to one cage, Connor recognizes him almost instantly. 

Rupert Travis, Connor remembers this shifter. The one with many pigeon pets and the wings to match with them. He never found out what happened to him after he got away, but Connor feels sudden relief knowing he stayed alive for this long. 

That he wasn’t another victim to add to Connor’s guilt.

Rupert steps carefully around the group of pigeons gathered at his feet, staring intensely at the bucket he’s holding. He lets out a tsk with his tongue, laughing again when one of them tries to use his arm as a perch.

“You gotta wait for your turn, glutton.” He huffs and lets the bird back down with the rest.

Rupert opens the cage, holding a single pigeon in the very back, and takes a handful of seeds from the bucket he’s holding, offering them to the bird. Connor had never seen a shifter wear such a warm smile, never while he was around at least. It’s mesmerizing.  
  
He moves away from behind the pillar, leaving more of his body open to the view as he tries to catch more of that smile. So distracted Connor is by the shifter he doesn’t see the broken twig right in front of him and crushes it with his shoe.

The loud creak has both of them freezing. Rupert turns his head to the source of the noise and finds Connor staring back at him like a deer in headlights. Connor can see the moment Rupert’s face shifts from a surprised expression to one of horror as he realizes just who’s looking at him and the former hunter resists the urge to flinch back.

It’s too similar to the one he had the first time Connor found him. He steps out from behind the pillar completely and rattles his mind on what to say to whom he basically saw as nothing but a prey, once.

But there’s no point to it when he knows what he should start with.

Connor doesn’t think he can delay it any longer at any rate, he takes one step forward and prepares to give an apologize.

Except, Rupert doesn’t let him do it. 

A halo of luminescent red bursts out of Rupert’s back. He throws the buckets of seeds to the ground, scaring the surrounding pigeons into a flying frenzy. The one in the cage is not fast enough to avoid Connor as he tries to reach Rupert and collides with his chest. 

As the frantic bird scratches Connor’s hand trying to help it down, Connor hears fast footsteps getting further away from where he is. He ignores the pain when the pigeon pecks at his fingers and tucks the animal under his armpit so he can put his attention back on Rupert. Before he loses him, again.

But when Connor looks up, he only gets to catch a glimpse of Rupert’s terrified face looking back at him, before the shifter disappears behind a building in a rush of black and white feathers.

Connor thinks about going after him, explaining how he’s not here to hurt Rupert before concluding that it’s pointless. Going after a shifter on a chase leaves room to relive bad memories. Memories Connor himself would rather leave behind and forgotten. It won’t do anything but make Rupert even more afraid of him.

Something tugs at his tie and Connor looks down only to find the pigeon he’s holding has apparently labeled his clothes as food.

“I don’t think you can tell me where he went, can you?” Connor asks as he takes the bird from his underarm and looks at it. It is… small, smaller than the other pigeons he’s seen around. The runt of the nest most likely, but just as feisty as any other.

The pigeon twists its body around in his grip, despite Connor making sure the hold is not strong enough to hurt it, wings moving around, trying to swat at his hands in hopes he’ll release it. Connor takes notice how the right wing bends awkwardly with each flap, as if the limb itself doesn’t know how to work properly. It falls on top of Connor like a bucket of cold water that the bird’s crippled.  
  
It doesn’t take much more for Connor to realize this one would probably not survive in the wild. And it must be why it was in a cage and why Rupert came here in the first place with a bucket full of seeds and a warm smile.

Connor brings the bird closer to his chest in a loose hug, enjoying how the light feathers tickle under his chin.

_And he was the reason that smile disappeared._

The pigeon coos as it finally stares back at Connor with onyx tinted eyes and tries to peck at his nose.

Connor sighs before saying, “So that’s a no.” 

Kneeling down, he places the pigeon gently on the ground near the bucket of spilled seeds, scaring away the few pigeons brave enough to come back again. Connor lets it pick at his index finger for a moment while he commands for his own sets of wings to grow.

The small puddles left by the morning rain reflect the blue aura shining on Connor’s back as two pairs of silver-grey feathered wings slowly materialize. Connor feels the shifts and clicks of the bones and the softness of each single feather as they grow on new skin.

He knows Rupert won’t abandon the little bird—it’s not in his nature to be cruel. Unlike him, Rupert was not made to chase, corner and kill. He was not made to follow orders to the letter and never have questions.

But despite all the training Cyberlife put on him to make him the perfect hunter, Connor’s glad they assigned him to a man like Hank, his moral compass in all this mess. He doesn’t know how things would have turned out, if he hadn’t listened to the lieutenant as much as he did. 

But still he was the enemy for so long, he owes it to the people he tried to bring down to apologize for his past actions. He knows perfectly well acceptance won’t happen in a day. Connor will just have to keep coming back and show he’s not a hunter anymore, with time.

The bird has gone back to picking at him, this time the victims are his shoes.

He cups a handful of seeds and lures the little pigeon back into its cage before setting the lock, making a mental note to bring a few apple slices for tomorrow.

He gives one last look to the ledge Rupert jumped from a moment ago and takes off into the sky with one powerful flap of his wings.

–

Rupert watches the hunter leave from his perch behind a water tank. Feathers ruffling out despite telling himself to calm down. 

The hunter isn’t supposed to be here in New Jericho, he’d heard he was on his way back to Detroit, not wandering around inside the nest like any other shifter.

What happened? Just—what had just happened?

He knows his heart jumped into his throat when he saw Connor holding Hen, and how much the pigeon struggled in his arms. He was afraid the hunter would hurt her but….

He never did, he was nothing but gentle. The most gentle Rupert had ever seen the hunter being before.

He let her pick and bite at his hand despite Hen having a pretty strong bite for a bird so small. He gave her the food Rupert brought for her and even made sure she was back in her cage.

Rupert’s wings emit a soft yellow glow as they slowly disintegrate back to nothing. He drops his bare back against the wall of the tank and slides down to the floor when the hunter takes flight. He watches those two sets of wings—just like Markus’—get further into the sky and looks down at his hands. 

He wasn’t so keen on the idea that Cyberlife’s prime hunter would have such a change of heart so quickly. He still remembers how emotionless his gaze had been while Rupert begged to be left alone.

Rupert believed Connor had joined their side to save his skin, it made sense he’d try to get on Markus’ good side to have some immunity, but...

But…

Rupert thinks as he watches the silver feathers glint under the few rays of sun shining through the masses of clouds. Maybe he’s in the wrong here, and the hunter has changed after all. Maybe he’s trying to make a difference.

Taking a deep breath, he steps away from the water tank into the open roof.

“Connor!” Rupert screams before he can think better of doing this. He feels the aura around his back shift, uneasy, as the hunter stops mid-flight and looks down, following his voice. Connor’s eyes widen the moment they spot Rupert, and Rupert feels it again. The flight or fight response in the back of his head, except this time he’s doing neither.

“I’ll be back here tomorrow, same time!” He says with a slight waver in his voice. Connor’s wings shine where they touch the sunlight and it’s such a pretty sight to look at without the fear of being chased, Rupert can’t help but stare.

Connor blinks down at him as he finally processes Rupert’s words. His mouth opens, but a second after he seems to think better of it and closes it again. The feathers at the end of each wing give off a shy blue glow as a smile tugs at the hunter’s lips and he gives a tentative nod.

“I’ll be here.” 

Rupert waits a few minutes before he grows his wings back and drops to the aviary again. A few of his feathers fall and mix with the ones already on the floor. With a sigh, he nudges the few stray birds that have found what’s left on the bucket and picks it up before looking at the cage.

Rupert drops his head against the bars of the cage and glares at the reason for his change of mind, currently perched on a branch, still eating her food without a care in the world.

“This is all your fault.” he says to the little rascal, but the bird just ignores Rupert and keeps eating her seeds.


End file.
